News & Blog

Atheists Decry Confirmation of Gorsuch to Supreme Court

Cranford, NJ—Today, after the rules of the Senate were changed by Republicans to overcome a filibuster, Neil Gorsuch was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court by a vote of 54-45.

American Atheists’ National Legal Director Amanda Knief released the following statement:

Since the announcement of Neil Gorsuch as President Trump’s choice to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant for more than a year, American Atheists has expressed profound concerns about Gorsuch’s record on religious freedom, religious exemptions, and a wide range of other issues.

His confirmation hearing did nothing to allay our concerns, and I continue to believe that Justice Gorsuch will be no friend to our secular government.

Justice Gorsuch has consistently prioritized the ‘right’ of corporations to impose religious dogma on their employees, the ‘right’ of certain religious groups to receive exemption after exemption from our laws, and the ‘right’ of government entities to erect religious monuments on public land.

Justice Gorsuch’s views on these and many other issues put him so far outside the mainstream that Senate Republicans had to change the rules to confirm him.

With cases like Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer on the Court’s docket, we will see in short order what sort of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch will be and what sort of damage will be done to the Establishment Clause during his tenure.